A master of suspense and the creator of the Myron Bolitar series, Edgar, Shamus, and Anthony Award winner Harlan Coben edits 2011's collection of the must-reads in mysteries from the past year. Since its inception in 1915, the Best American series has become the premier annual showcase for the country's finest short fiction and nonfiction. For this title, as for each of the others, a series editor reviews hundreds of periodicals, then selects between 50 and 100 outstanding works. The guest editor—a recognized expert in the field—then pares the list down to the 20 or so very best pieces.

"The excellent 15th edition of this 'best of' series ... contains 20 winning short stories, many by relative unknowns.... Among the standouts are Brendan DuBois's 'Ride-Along,' in which a veteran cop and a freelance reporter get involved in a robbery, and Beth Ann Fennelly and Tom Franklin's 'What His Hands Had Been Waiting For,' in which the struggle for survival in the Mississippi Delta during the terrible 1927 flood takes a strange turn.... As in previous volumes, it's hard to find lighter fare, but S.J. Rozan's clever 'Chin Yong-Yun Takes a Case' is a beautifully crafted and satisfying tale of amateur detection. Other contributors include such pros as Lawrence Block, Loren D. Estleman, and Mickey Spillane and Max Collins."—Publishers Weekly (starred review)